Trees disguise troubling view for Beijing

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According to Fancy Jiang of Beijing Shiji Badi Technology, 2013 has been yet another satisfying year for makers of 3cm tall plastic trees: steady sales, a broad national client base and a permanent need to “green things up” for the punters.

Production of 3cm plastic trees (pine, plane and miscellaneous) is a rarefied branch of Chinese manufacturing with two primary customers — model railway enthusiasts and property developers. The former buy modestly, the latter in bulk.

Property developers (as well as central government planners and megalomaniacal provincial officials) use the trees to flesh-out the vast — and always enticing — dioramas that are